Kezia Schaffer was a young Christian in Australia when she messaged an up-and-coming American right-wing podcaster in 2018 to say she was a fan of his show.
asserted
she → message → show
Elijah Schaffer flew across the world to meet her, even though she had turned down his offer to visit, and within about a month was telling her that he would marry her, a family friend told the Daily Mail.
asserted
friend → fly → Mail
They wed in July 2019, when he was 26 and she was 23.
asserted
she → we → July
Schaffer, now 33, went on to become a prominent figure in mainstream conservative media, rising to stardom as a host on Glenn Beck's BlazeTV with his coverage of the George Floyd protests in 2020.
asserted
Schaffer → go → 2020
But Blaze Media fired him in September 2022, saying only that he had violated company policies and standards.
asserted
he → fire → policies
Despite reports of sexual misconduct, Schaffer only said that his exit had been 'a long time coming.'
asserted
exit → say → misconduct
He rebuilt himself in the online Christian right, aligning with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and launching his own outlet, RiftTV, to preach 'traditional marriage' to more than 800,000 followers on X.
His Christian family-man image came crashing down in February - just days after filing for divorce from Kezia - when claims that he had slept with 21-year-old employee Sarah Stock leaked in recordings online.
uncertain
he → rebuild → recordings
Stock did not deny the affair, posting that there were 'mistakes/unwise decisions I have made that I deeply regret,' before deleting her accounts.
asserted
I → deny → accounts
Schaffer wrote on X, 'Sarah Stock has NOTHING to do w/ my divorce.'
asserted
Stock → write → divorce
Kezia's August divorce petition gives adultery as the grounds without naming anyone.
asserted
petition → give → anyone
But while the MAGA world has moved on from the scandal, Schaffer and Kezia have spent almost eight months locked in a bitter custody dispute over their two sons, now aged three and one.
asserted
Schaffer → move → sons
'She's got no one,' the family friend told the Daily Mail, describing a young mother of two stranded thousands of miles from her family in Australia: 'She can't leave.
asserted
She → get → Australia
The pair first met in Australia when Elijah flew out to meet her after she messaged him online telling him that she was a fan of his show
Sarah Stock and Charlie Kirk.
asserted
she → meet → Stock
Stock was a 21-year-old employee of Schaffer's when they embarked on an affair, according to Kezia
The family had only been in Texas a matter of weeks when the marriage fell apart having moved from Florida to Frisco in December.
uncertain
marriage → embark → December
Schaffer filed for divorce in Florida on January 22, and nine days later Kezia, now 30, left the house with the boys, before going to court in Denton County, Texas, on February 5.
asserted
Kezia → file → February
A default order on March 5 gave Kezia sole custody, and she took the boys to Australia days later.
asserted
she → give → Australia
In April, however, a judge set the order aside at Schaffer's request and told her to bring them back to the US.
asserted
judge → set → US
The couple is now fighting over the boys in a Texas divorce Kezia filed in August.
asserted
Kezia → fight → August
Schaffer 'emptied our joint account and blocked/canceled all my debit and credit cards,' Kezia stated in a declaration signed under penalty of perjury and filed with her February petition.
asserted
Kezia → empty → petition
Schaffer denied those claims in a sworn affidavit in March, stating that Kezia 'leased her own home after secretly withdrawing money from our joint account to fund it.'
uncertain
Kezia → deny → it
He swore that he paid her rent and offered support she ignored.
asserted
she → swear → support
He stated his understanding was that her card had been 'frozen due to suspected fraud.'
asserted
card → state → fraud
His own April filing includes a February 2 text from Kezia: 'Elijah, can you please unblock all my bank cards and credit cards.
asserted
you → include → cards
'
Kezia's parents took turns flying from Australia 'so that I am not alone here with our children,' she stated in her February declaration.
asserted
she → take → declaration
A motion filed by Kezia's lawyer on September 10 states that Schaffer has paid nothing of the $2,925 a month in child support a Texas judge ordered from February 19, putting his arrears at $23,400.
asserted
judge → file → 23,400
The motion says he has also failed to pay $7,500 the judge ordered toward her legal fees.
asserted
judge → say → fees
A recent social media post from Schaffer where he described his weight loss.
asserted
he → describe → loss
He frequently posts sexual content on his X feed
Elijah and Kezia Schafffer in happier times
asserted
He → post → times
Kezia Schaffer holds one of her children
For most of their marriage he 'drank alcohol on most days of the week,' Kezia stated in her February declaration, though she said he appeared to have stopped about two months earlier.
asserted
he → hold → declaration
In recent months he had also been taking 'large quantities of kratom daily,' a herbal substance with opioid-like effects, she stated, and had told her he had been prescribed anti-anxiety medication Xanax and the antipsychotic Seroquel.
asserted
he → take → medication
At times he appeared 'heavily sedated, disoriented, or excessively groggy during the day,' Kezia said in her declaration, and at others he was 'agitated, impulsive, and unable to regulate his emotions,' according to the filing.
He was posting throughout.
uncertain
He → appear → filing
On February 3, he told his X followers that his wife and children were 'filed as missing persons' and that 'they have kidnapped my family,' according to copies of the since-deleted posts filed in court.
uncertain
they → tell → court
'I am a victim of serious targeted felony crimes,' he wrote, adding: 'I believe the FBI is trying to destroy my life & kill me.'
asserted
FBI → target → me
Other posts entered as exhibits at the February hearing included, 'Expose it all.
asserted
posts → enter → it
Post my d*** even,' and, 'I have a d*** and it works.
asserted
it → post → *
Everyone can go cry about it.
asserted
Everyone → go → it
Days earlier, on the day Kezia left with the boys, the couple had traded texts.
asserted
couple → leave → texts
Schaffer's own lawyers later filed them in court, arguing she had wrongly kept the boys from him.
asserted
she → file → him
'Elijah, because of recent escalations I'm going to be taking a mental health break with the kids over the next few days,' Kezia wrote at 2.31pm on January 31, according to screenshots attached to his filing.
uncertain
Kezia → go → filing
'You are LEGALLY NOT allowed to do that,' he replied.
asserted
he → allow → that
…and 49 more, not listed.
The Aporia
